USA > Illinois > Henry County > The biographical record of Henry County, Illinois > Part 41
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which is a fire-proof, brick structure, and besides this property he owns his residence and two other houses and lots in Galva. He has a nice home, supplied with all modern conveniences and conveniently lo- cated within two blocks of the business por- tion of the town.
In 1865 Mr. Runquist was united in marriage with Miss Martha Nelson, who was born in Sweden, June 24. 1840, and as a member of the Bishop Hill colony start- ed for America in 1846 with her parents, who died on the journey, together with her two brothers. She was thus left alone in the world at the tender age of six years, and grew to womanhood in the colony. The voyage across the Atlantic was made in a sailing vessel and consumed seven weeks. From New York the colony made their way by the canal and the Great Lakes to Chi- cago, and then walked to Bishop Hill. Both Mr. and Mrs. Runquist were quite young at this time. They found the country very wild and entirely unimproved. It was most- ly prairie land with very little timber, but scttlements were always made in the forests. Wolves, deer and feathered game abounded. Four children were born to our subject and his wife, of whom one died in infancy, and Lillie died in 1896, at the age of fourteen years. Olive, born in 1876, is now the wife of Professor B. J. Dean, of Mendota Col- lege, and they have one son. Harold F. Fred E., born in 1870, lives at home, and is now pursuing a collegiate course at Men- dota, Illinois, where he graduated after tak ing a business course.
Mr. Runquist gives his political support to the men and measures of the Republican party, and has taken an active part in the work of his party. He has twice efficiently
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served as a member of the town board and has capably filled the office of township as- sessor since 1894, having been constantly re-elected to that position. He and his wife are faithful members of the Second Ad- ventist Church, of Mendota, and merit and receive the respect and esteem of all who know them.
JOHN H. SCHROEDER.
The subject of this sketch, who is now successfully engaged in carrying on a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on section 23, Edford township, is one of the native sons of Henry county, his birth having oc- curred February 11, 1868, on the old home stead in section 15, Edford township, where his father, G. H. Schroeder, now resides. The latter was born in Oldenburg. Ger- many, October 19, 1834, a son of John and Catherine ( Wicker) Schroeder, also na- tives of that part of Germany. According to the laws of his native land he attended school there from the age of six to fourteen years. He was about seventeen years of age when he determined to try his fortune in America and took passage on a sailing vessel, which, after a voyage of forty-two days, landed him safely in New Orleans, on the Ist of June, 1852. Coming up the Mississippi river, he first located in Rock Island county, Illinois, and began life in Hampton township with a capital of twelve dollars and fifty cents. During the first summer he received only seven dollars per month for his labor. The succeeding win- ter he attended school while doing chores for his board, and continued to work as a farm hand until 1859, when he purchased a tract of land in that township, residing
thereon for four years. In 1863 he came to Edford township, Henry county, where he operated rented land one year, and then purchased eighty acres on section 15, where he has since made his home. He has pros- pered in his new home, and is to-day the owner of a valuable and well improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, where he resides, besides a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres on section 23. Edford town- ship, and one hundred and sixty acres in Osco township. In 1859 he married Miss Wilhelmina Weigand, a native of Prussia, Germany, and they have become the par- ents of seven children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Henrietta P .. October 13, 1863; Martha F., February 25, 1866; John H., February 11, 1868; Charles F., June 21, 1870: Minnie L., Oc- tober 5, 1874; Louie A., April 25, 1876; and Elmer A., February 12, 1881.
The early education of John H. Schroe- der was obtained in the district schools near his boyhood home, and for two years he pursued his studies at the Northwestern Normal School of Geneseo. His knowledge of farm work was obtained under the able direction of his father, and he remained under the parental roof, assisting in the culti- vation of the fields, until twenty-six years of age, when he removed to the farm which he now occupies. In its operation he is now meeting with good success, being a thor- ough and systematic farmer and a man of good business ability. In connection with general farming he is quite extensively en- gaged in the raising of cattle, his specialty being Aberdeen Angus.
On the 30th of January, 1895, at Mor- ristown, Osco township, Mr. Schroeder married Miss Nora E. Weidlein, a daugh- ter of Andrew and Sarah ( Conrad) Weid-
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lein. She was born in Osco township, and was educated in the public schools of Gene- sen, where her parents moved for the pur- pose of giving their children the advantages of the city schools. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder have one child, Lucile Kathleen, born on the home farm June 1, 1898. Our subject is now efficiently serving as town clerk of Ediord township, having been elected to that office in the spring of 1900 on the People's ticket. He is a member of the Congregational Church of Geneseo, and is : man highly respected and esteemed by all who know him.
M. B. BLISH.
M. B. Blish, a prominent citizen of Ke- wanee, now retired from active business cares, belongs to one of the honored pio- neer families of Henry county, where he was born December 5, 1848, his parents being Charles C. and Elizabeth P. (Bonar ) Blish, natives of Connecticut and Ohio, re- spectively. The father was quite young when he came with his parents to Ilinois ir 1837, and in this state was married. For a short time he resided in Knox county. but the greater part of his life was passed ir Henry county, and he owned a part of the tract secured by the Wethersfield col- ony. Of this our subject now has two hundre l and eighty acres, which has been placed under cultivation and is well im- provel. it being the old homestead of the Blish family. For many years the father followed agricultural pursuits and served president of the First National Bank of Kewanee for seventeen years, being a stock- holder of the same until his death. In his penneall views he was a Democrat, and he
was a man of influence in his community. He died in December, 1890, at the age of seventy years, and his wife passed away in May, 1900, at the age of seventy-nine. Both were earnest members of the Congre- gational Church, and were highly respected by all who knew them. Their family num- bered six children, namely: James K., now president of the First National Bank, of Kewanee; William and Sylvester, who both died in infancy; M. B., our subject; and Carrie and Kittie, who also died in infancy.
During his boyhood and youth M. B. Blish attended the public schools of Ke- wanee, and for one year was a student at the University of Michigan. When his school days were over he took up farm work and followed that occupation through- out his active business life, but for the past six years has lived retired in Kewanee.
In December, 1868, Mr. Blish married Miss Martha F. Morrill, a native of Vir- ginia and a daughter of D. W. and E. A. Morrill, who came to this state from the Old Dominion about 1854 and settled in Wethersfield township, Ilenry county. Her father was engaged in mercantile business in Wethersfield for some time, and for sev- eral years served as postmaster at Adrian, Missouri. He died in the faith of the Chris- tian Church in 1887, at about the age of sixty years. Mrs. Morrill, who now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Blish, was born in Washington county, Ohio, July 9, 1830, a daughter of Abijah and Lucinda ( Hollo- way) Wedge. Her maternal grandfather was a native of Germany and was residing in. a seaport town in that country when the American Revolution broke out. He and his brother were taken from their beds and forced to enlist in General Burgoyne's army, but on reaching America they deserted and
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joined the Colonial army under General Washington. Two brothers of Mrs. Mor- rill's paternal grandfather also served in the same army. Her father, Abijah Wedge, a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, served with distinction as a colonel in the war of 1812. His wife later received a pension. For many years he followed farming, but late engaged in preaching as an itinerant minister of the Metholist Episcopal Church. He died in 1872, when over eighty years of age, and his wife, who was a faithful member of the same church for many years, departed this life in 1883, at the extreme old age of ninety-eight. Of their ten chil- dren five died in early life. The others were Homer L., Chester O. and Lucy L., all now deceased; Orange P .; and Mrs. Morrill.
Mrs. Blish is the oldest in a family of four children, and is followed by Henry WV., a resident of Hilliard, Washington; Ida A., wife of S. W. Dustin, of St. Jo- seph, Missouri; and Fred D., who died in the fall of 1899, at the age of thirty-eight years. The children born to our subject and his wife are Katie E., wife of C. D. Handley, of Kewanee, by whom she has two children, Lillian B. and Charles M .; Charles B., of Kewanee, who married Sarah A. Jones and has one child, Florence E .; and Dwight M., at home.
Politically Mr. Blish is an ardent Re- publican, and socially is an honored mem- ber of Kewanee Lodge, No. 159, F. & A. M .; Kewanee Chapter, No. 47, R. A. M., in which he has served as high priest ; the Ciuncil, No. 81, R. & S. M .; and Temple Commandery. No. 20, K. T. He has served as a delegate to the grand lodge of the state, and both he and his wife are connect- ed with the Eastern Star Chapter. They
receive and merit the high regard of the entire community and are deserving of prominent mention among the honored pio- ners and representative citizens of the county.
CHARLES E. LITTLE.
Among the leading citizens and repre- sentative farmers of Geneseo township is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, his home being on section 29. He is a native of Henry county, his birth hav- ing occurred in the city of Geneseo, No- vember 14, 1858, and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Jones ) Little. On the paternal side he is of the ninth generation in direct descent from George Little, the progenitor of the family in America, who came to America from England in 1640 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. He married Alice Poor, who sailed for New England from Southampton, England, on the Bevis in May, 1638. Our subject's grandfather. James Little, a farmier by occupation, was born June 21, 1791, and died at Bailey's Point, Illinois, in 1840. In 1816 he mar- ried Polly Cook, who died January 17, 1841.
Daniel Little. the father of our subject, was born in Campton, New Hampshire, March 25, 1818, and resided in his native place until nineteen years of age, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Seneca county, New York, where they engaged in farming until their emigration to Illinois in 1839. They settled in La Salle county, where the grandparents of our subject both died. In 1855 the father came to Henry county and took up his residence in Geneseo. Having the year previous pur-
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chased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 29, Geneseo township, he turned his attention to its cultivation, and made the first improvements upon the place. He broke the entire tract and throughout his active business life successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. In 1864 he located upon his farm, making it his home until his death, which occurred May 25. 1883. Ile was public spirited and an advocate of all that tended to improve or advance the interests of the community in which he lived, but he never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office. Ile was chosen deacon of the Congrega- tional Church the year he came to Geneseo, and held that office until his death, always taking an active and prominent part in all church work. His widow continued to re- side on the old homestead with her son Charles, until she, too, was called to her final rest, in 1890.
In the family of this worthy couple were six children, of whom Charles E. is the youngest, the others being as follows : ( I) Amanda, born in La Salle county, Illi- nois, September 27, 1842, died July 4, 1884, unmarried, and was laid to rest with her father and mother in Oakwood cemetery. (2) James .1., born in the same county, January 14, 1844, is now living a retired life in Northfield, Minnesota. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company I, One Ilundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, and was severely wounded in the battle of Yuta Creek, after serving for about two years, and has never recovered from the effects of his injuries. He married Laura A. Fitch, and they have three chil- dren, James E., Jessie .A. and Amanda L. 3) 1:liza R., born in La Salle county, March 17. 1846, is cottage matron in the
State Orphans Home at Davenport. Iowa. with which she has been connected for the past eighteen years. (4) Susan L., born in La Salle county, February 1, 1849. was married, December 20, 1869, to Rollin J. Wells, now a lawyer of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they have five children, Robert L., Bertha S., Helen A., Ruth and Mary, (5) Edwin L., born in La Salle county, in September, 1852, died July 6, 1854.
Charles E. Little, of this review, was educated in the public schools of Geneseo, and with his parents removed to the farm in Geneseo township, in 1864. Forty acres of the farm has since been sold, but he still owns one hundred and twenty acres of the original tract, and is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. For a number of years he has held the office of school director and is still filling that position in a most creditable manner. He is an active mem- ber of the Congregational Church, which his family also attend, and is one of the highly esteemed citizens of his community.
On the 14th of March, 1886, Mr. Little was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte E. Huntington, of Sharon, Whiteside coun- ty, Illinois, and they have become the par- ents of five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Mary E .. No- vember 3, 1888; Esther H., December 15, 1891; George E., September 17. 1893; Clarence R., August 28, 1895; and Ruth E., .August 23. 1899.
Mrs. Little is one of a family of seven children, all of whom are still living, her parents being John and Harriet ( Schmiedt ) lhuntington, natives of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, respectively, and now resi- dents of Geneseo. The father came to Illi- nois with his family about 1854 and first settled in Whiteside county. Throughout
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his active business life he followed farming, but is now living a retired life.
Nathan B. Huntington, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Little, was born in Ashford, Connecticut, February 22, 1810, and was a son of Dr. Andrew Huntington, a practicing physician of that place. The family were among the early Puritans of New England. The first to come to Amer- ica was William Huntington, who settled in Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1640. Com- ing to Illinois in 1838, Nathan B. Hunting- ton located in Tazewell county, where he engaged in farming until his removal to Henry county in 1854. He became the owner of a large amount of real estate in Geneseo and the surrounding country, and platter of what is known as the Huntington addition to that city. In 1857 he went to Elbridge, New York, where he engaged in the manufacture of furniture and also owned and operated a sawmill. On his return to Illinois in 1862 he took up his residence in Galesburg, and spent the following ten years in farming in Knox county, after which he was engagel in the real estate busi- ness in Geneseo, where he died August 10, 1885. He was one of the leading and in- fluential members of the Congregational Church of that place, and served as deacon for many years. On the 16th of May, 1833. he married Matilda Whiton, who died Oc- tober 1, 1840, leaving three children : John, the father of Mrs. Little; Maria, wife of Cornelius H. Van Vechten, of Elbridge, New York; and Andrew, living at Rantoul, Illinois. He was again married, December 9, 1841, his second union being with Re- becca Willard, whose death occurred May 3, 1849, and there were two children- by this marriage: Matilda, who married Mitchel E. Overstreet, and lives at Wood-
hull, Illinois; and Elisha, who married Ag- nes M. Getty and lives at Rock Rapids, Iowa. On the 6th of October. 1849, he married Jane Charevoy, who was born Jan- uary 2, 1805, and died in April, 1870. Two years later he wedded Mrs. Dr. R. J. Stough, a native of Harwich, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Josiah and Deborah Smalley.
JOHN THOMAS FINCH.
On the 19th of July, 1898, there passed away at his home in Burns township John T. Finch, who for forty-six years had been one of the leading citizens of that locality, and whose name was inseparably connected with its agricultural interests. A native of Indian Hill, near Cincinnati, Ohio, he was born near Cincinnati, July 23, 1828, and was a son of William and Elizabeth ( FFerris) Finch, both of whom were natives of Con- necticut. He was one of a family of eleven children, all of whom are now deceased, the others being Catherine, who died un- married in Harveysburg, Ohio; Joseph, who married Christina Kiger, of Ohio, and followed farming near Harveysburg ; Adelia, who married a Mr. Black, a lumberman, and died at Dubuque, Iowa; Priscilla, who first married Asa Schoonover, a school teacher, and, second, J. J. Hollister, a farmer and politician of Dunham, Ohio; Eliza, wife of Rev. Isaac Morrison, a Methodist Episcopal minister, who died near Cincinnati, Ohio: Ann, wife of Samuel Smalley, a farmer near Milford, Ohio; Mary, wife of a Mr. Stupes, of Ohio; Hannah, wife of S. Leg- gett, a farmer of Ohio; Louisa, wife of J. Scott, a farmer of the same state; and Mrs. Sarah Neadry.
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Reared on the home farm in Ohio, John T. Finch was educated in the schools of Indian Hill. Asa Schoonover being his first teacher, and on laying aside his text books he aided his father in the operation of the farm until he attained his majority. On the Ist of January, 1852, he was united in marriage with Miss Emeline Schoonover, of Marietta, Ohio. Her parents, Ilenry and Eunice ( Hopkins ) Schoonover, were natives of Washington county, Ohio, while her paternal grandparents, Nicholas and Sarah ( Blue) Schoonover, were natives of Connecticut and pioneers of the Buckeye state. The grandfather was of Holland descent, a farmer by occupation and a soldier of the war of 1812. Mrs. Finch's great- great-uncle. Stephen Hopkins, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. Her father was killed by being thrown from a horse at the age of thirty- seven years, but her mother lived to the ripe old age of eighty two. She was the oldest of their six children, the others being Ros- siter 1 ... . Adolphus, Mary, Caroline and Asa. To our subject and his wife were born three children. namely : Hattie, born October 1, 1852, married Henry F. King, a farmer, who died at Omaha, Nebraska, and she died at the age of twenty three years. Feb- ruary 6. 1876. leaving two sons, Walter and Ralph: Henry C., born October 16, 1859, married Armina Metler and followed farm- ing in this county ; they have three children, Ernest T., Bessie 1. and Winona Belle ; and Adolphus, born February 2, 1862, married Marian Ensminger, and is now engaged in business at Pueblo, Colorado. He owns Wind near Goff's, Kansas, and has three clubdren, Vernon, Eva and Glenn.
In March, 1852, shortly after his mar- Lage. Mr. Finch came to Henry county,
Illinois, and purchased eighty acres of wild prairie land on section 34. Burns township. No railroad had yet been built through the country, and the town of Kewanee was not started. To his original purchase Mr. Finch added a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, and having prospered during his resi- dence here he owned at the time of his death three hundred and twenty acres of land in Henry county ( having also sold two hundred forty acres) and eighty acres in Colorado, and at one time one of the largest land owners here. He was a man of sterling integrity noted for his fairness in all busi- ness transactions, and he commanded the re- spect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. Hle cast his first presi- dential vote for General Winfield Scott, the Whig candidate, and became a stanch Re- publican on the organization of that party. He served as school director, and in 1896 was appointed by Governor Altgeld as asso- ciate delegate to the Farmers National Con- gress held at Indianapolis, and at St. Paul. by Governor Tanner, in 1897. He was one of the most prominent men of his com- munity, and was an earnest and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the country, of which his estimable wife was also a member. Of late years they have held membership with the Congrega tional Church of Kewanee.
AARON RAPP.
The subject of this biography, one of Illinois' native sons and a distinguished res ident of Geneseo, is to-day one of the most prosperous men of the community in which he lives. Genuine success is not likely to be the result of mere chance or fortune, but
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i. something to be labored for and sought out with consecutive effort. Mr. Rapp has a wide reputation as a capable financier, and his life demonstrates what can be accom- plished through industry, perseverance and good management.
Among the honored pioneers of this sec- tion of the state was Philip Rapp, the father of our subject. He was born in Alsace, Germany, in 1811, a son of John Rapp, and was the third in order of birth in a family of six children, the others being John, who married Catherine Howard and lived for some years in Loraine township, this county. and died in Geneseo; Jacob, who married Elizabeth Schuler and also died in Geneseo, after living some time in Loraine township: George, who was drowned in Rock river, at the age of twenty-two years; Christ, who married Margaret Esther and died in Lo- raine township; and Catherine, who married Rudolph Urick and also died in that town- ship.
At the age of twenty-two years Philip Rapp came to the United States, crossing the ocean in an old time sailing vessel, which required six weeks to make the voyage. On landing in New York he went direct to Pennsylvania, and engaged in farming in Warren county. That part of the coun- try was then covered with a dense growth of timber, which had to be cut down and burned to make way for the cultivation of the land and the raising of cereals. \fter two years spent in that state Mr. Rapp came on foot to Chicago, Illinois, and from there went to Portland township. White- side county, where he entered a tract of government land in 1835. and began the in- provement of a farm. He continued to op- erate that land until 1878, when, having prospered in his undertakings, he concluded 20
to retire from active labor, and that year removed to Geneseo, where he lived in ease and quiet throughout the remainder of his life, dying there in January, 1890.
In 1841 Philip Rapp married Miss Christina Ort, who is now a resident of Geneseo. She is a native of Wurtemburg, Germany. . She came with her parents to America, the father dying in Aurora, Illi- pois, aged seventy-two, and the mother in Rock Island, Illinois, at the age of seventy- three years. In her family were seven chil- dren, two sons and five daughters, namely : John and Philip, both deceased; Vena, who died in Chicago; Fredericka, who died in Whiteside county ; Harriet, widow of Philip Zahn and a resident of Milan, Illinois; Christina, mother of our subject ; and Mar- garetta, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland.
Of the fourteen children born to Philip and Christina (Ort) Rapp, three died in infancy, while the others are Christina, wife of J. J. Weitline, of Geneseo; Harriet, widow of Jacob Wesling, and a resident of Chicago; Aaron, our subject : Abraham L., who married Clara Arnett and lives in Loraine township, this county ; William, who married Susan Lauderbaugh and re- sides in Hastings, Nebraska: Louisa, twin sister of William, residing with her mother in Geneseo; Emily, wife of E. O. Goemble, of Hooppole; John H., who married Clara Libby and lives in Rockford, Illinois; Sam- uel, who married Malvina Arnold and lives on the old homestead in Whiteside county ; Fred E .. a resident of Geneseo ; and Jennie, wife of Grant Henney, of Fairbury, Ne- braska.
Mr. Rapp, whose name introduces this review, was born on the old homestead in Portland township, Whiteside county, Illi- nois, November 25, 1848, and received his
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